PMD: House of Mirrors
by Da Capo al Coda
Summary: Coda's soul must be broken along the lines in order to finish Master Dialga's heart. Too bad Coda won't let Dusknoir and his Sableye cronies catch her that easily.


Chapter 1: Broken Glass

* * *

><p>"There." Dusknoir waved a massive hand over the portal. Inside its swirling black frame, two teenage humans raced each other through what was presumably a forest, judging by the many trees and lack of any sort of road. The portal focused on the female, bouncing up and down in time with her running.<p>

"Weh-heh-heh-heh!" Six jewel-eyed Sableye leapt in the air several times in excitement. One Sableye lost itself completely, yelling, "Her soul, her soul! It looks so tasty! Can we eat it, Master Dusk—ow!" The Sableye tumbled out of the air under the Dusknoir's other hand, curled into a fist.

"No, you fool! We need her soul for Master Dialga. We must break it along the lines." The girl tripped and and a small mirror fell out of her pocket, shattering neatly into seven large pieces.

The huge Ghost Pokémon chuckled sadistically as she cut her hand on one of the shards. "Like that. Seven perfect pieces, to complete Master Dialga's heart." He turned around and gazed upon the colossal window pane behind him. Hundreds of brightly colored glass fragments filled the frame, pieced together in the shape of a great blue and silver Pokémon frozen in mid-roar. And in the place where its trademark jewel should be lay a bald spot, showing off the dark cave wall behind it.

"Yes, she is the last of the Soul Keepers. Once we have her, everything will be complete, and Master Dialga shall take over this wretched world once again! He shall eradicate what is unnecessary, and he shall purify these lands of the unnatural filth created by those _selfish, thoughtless fools_!" With a burst of deep, rumbling laughter, Dusknoir rammed his fist into the portal. The image of the girl shattered and the smoke-like frame disappeared.

Behind him, the six Sableye, one with a swelling bump on its head, cackled along with him, leaping up and down once again.

* * *

><p>"Ow!" I watched the thin line of blood well up from the wound on my finger as the shard of glass fell to the ground.<p>

"Coda! Are you okay?"

Leif ran up to me with towels in his arms. He handed one to me to stop the bleeding and began gathering the mirror fragments on the ground with the others. I saw my grey eyes reflected in a piece of the mirror before he picked it up off the ground.

"Just dandy," I told him.

"Why the hell did you pick up _broken glass_ with _bare hands_?" he demanded.

I stared sheepishly at my towel, which began to turn a nasty red. "I've never cut myself on broken glass."

"Still. You're an idiot."

I stuck out my tongue behind his back and tried to figure out how to stem the flow of blood with a soaked towel. It was pretty disgusting.

Eventually, all the pieces were gathered and I ended up draping the bloody towel over my hand to just wait till we got home.

"That's a shitload of blood there," remarked Leif with his typical tact.

"Thank you, Sherlock, I had no idea," I replied. I winced as the cut on my hand began to throb.

"I bet Garry would faint at that towel if I put it in her bathroom…" he mused.

I sighed. "You scare her enough with all the gastly you let loose in her gym, Leif. My towel will probably end up killing her."

Leif was Gardenia's brother. He liked to pick on her ghost-phobia.

"Oh, come on, Coda. You're no fun. Here, I'll race you to the exit of the forest!"

"If you haven't noticed, Watson, I'm dying of blood loss here," I said sarcastically. And then I groaned. He had already taken off.

I kicked off my sandals, stuck them in my bag, and darted through the trees. When it comes to speed, I'm unbeatable.

I quickly caught up to him and slapped him with my bloody towel before running ahead once more. Just as I began to laugh triumphantly, I saw him swing on the branches above me. When it comes to acrobatics, he's one crazy chimchar.

"Hey! No fair!" I hollered at him.

Leif laughed in exhilaration. "Never said it had to be on ground—Crap!"

A stream of curses flowed from his mouth as the glass shards from my mirror fell out of his towels and began to tumble toward me.

I stood there stupidly, watching the fragments sparkle in the sunlight. The first thought that ran through my mind was 'Oh, how pretty'. The second was 'Oh shit.'

* * *

><p>"LEIF, you STUPID brother!" Gardenia actually whacked Leif with a small bouquet of wildflowers on the opposite cheek of the bloodstain from my towel.<p>

"Ow! How's hitting me with a bunch of plants going to help Coda?" Leif yelled back.

"Actually, it does. It brings me immense satisfaction to watch you get beaten up by flowers," I said. I winced as Leif's mother placed the second bandage on the long, new cut on my left temple. It ran from the middle of my forehead, through my eyebrow and to my hairline by my ear. It was an awkward bandage on my face, and it was going to scar. Just like the wound on the back of my right hand.

"Thanks, Leif. You just scarred a young girl's face for life," I joked.

"If it weren't for your stupid mirror this never would have happened."

"Leif! If you hadn't been monkeying around, this wouldn't have happened either, so both of you are at fault," his mother snapped. She glared at the two of us. Gardenia left to wash her hands.

"Sorry!" we chorused, and before she could say anything, we escaped the house. I threw a 'thank you' over my shoulder as we left.

"Hey!" Leif's mother hollered after us. Her shout was followed by a scream of terror that sent Leif doubling up in laughter.

"Your towel will amuse me to no end," he said between laughs, and I didn't press any further.

We finally reached the Old Chateau, panting for breath and leaning against the rotting fence. The abandoned mansion looked even more ominous against the darkening sky and grey stormy clouds.

As soon as we arrived in front of the house's rotting fence, Leif dropped his playful attitude and stared up at the building, pleasure mixed with disgust. He loved the gastly that resided within it but hated the presence of the manmade habitat. He always did that whenever he approached this place.

"You know what's funny, Coda?" he asked.

I knew what was coming, but I went along with it. "What?"

"This mansion…can you imagine all the homes that were destroyed from its creation? And yet, it's inhabited by the homeless' own kind, but they're unique to this forest."

Leif was also a very active environmentalist. His campaigns to shut down the Oreburgh Mines for the sake of the cave Pokémon grew very famous, but quickly ignored since the project affected the entire Sinnoh Region. He hated the unnecessary, home-stealing buildings all over the world and had vowed to get rid of them.

"Gastly are an invasive species here, which is why the whole city is afraid of them. But they are not as bad as they seem, right, Coda?" He turned to me with clouds reflected in his orange eyes.

"I know, Leif. I know. But don't let all this get you down. Don't hate on your own species, you know. Otherwise you'd hate on me too, and then I'll have to hit you with that towel again." I elbowed him playfully, trying to jerk him out of his damp mood. Leif laughed and pushed me away. "I know, just voicing my thoughts." He suddenly perked up and stared into the building. "Hey, the gastly are all hiding."

With his words, I suddenly became aware of the lack of energy around the Old Chateau. Usually it was buzzing with gastly everywhere, but today, it just felt…empty.

"Leif, what's that?" My eyes were drawn to several grey clouds, which began to swirl around the highest point of the house. It grew larger and larger, creating a vortex within in it. It looked almost like my oval mirror, before it was broken.

Leif stared. "I have no idea, but I don't think it's a good thing to stay here and find out. Run, Coda!"

He grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away, but something about the vortex fixed me to the ground, and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Leif jerked at my arm. "Coda! Why aren't you moving?"

My neck began to hurt from staring at the clouds. "I…don't know…"

And in that instant, a voice echoed through the sky.

_I HAVE FOUND HER, MASTER._

The voice reverberated through my body, and something about it sent ice cold chills down my spine.

Another voice answered, as otherworldly as the first.

_GOOD. BRING HER TO ME._

_AND THE BOY?_ the first voice asked.

…_HE MAY BE OF USE. TAKE HIM AS WELL._

_YES, MASTER._

Immediately, two huge hands appeared out of the portal and snatched me up.

"LEIF!" I screamed, waking from my trance. I thrashed in my prison, trying to get free. The other hand plucked Leif from the ground, and the peaceful forest, my playground and home, disintegrated into blackness.

I felt nothing at all, just the dim sensation of being dragged backwards. I thought I heard someone calling my name, in such a desperate tone, but the darkness seemed to suck the energy out of my body. I was too tired to think anymore, and wanted nothing more than to give in to the empty darkness…

_Coda! Coda, please answer me! Don't go! Stay with me!_

_Don't lose your soul in this darkness! Stay strong! Please!_

_Coda!_


End file.
